Priorities for the summer

[booth]

On 25/02/2023 at 12:58, wilsdenrover said:

If we don’t go up, which positions do you think we most need to strengthen for next season’s starting eleven?

I’d go with left back, centre midfield (to pair with A. Wharton) and centre forward

After that, i think I’d be looking at bringing in a couple of ‘proper wingers’

 

That and two centre forwards. Be nice if we could sign Sorba permanent.

[goozburger]

19 minutes ago, booth said:

Be nice if we could sign Sorba permanent.

I need to see a bit more of him. It's early days, but I'd like to think he has more to offer than praying to the officials in disbelief.

[Sweaty Gussets]

2 minutes ago, goozburger said:

I need to see a bit more of him.

[Bohinen1983]

I think defensively we're sound- If Ayala leaves I'd bring in another body- a nippy centre half would be cool.

I'd not get a left back, would like to see Jake Batty stake a claim for that position.

I think we're woefully short in midfield I'd bring in:

Box to Box Midfielder: O'Brien mould

Dynamic Ball carrier: Rothwell mould

Two rapid wingers: Khadra and Sorba would be nice

We're going to need competition for Gallagher with Breo leaving- loan someone in that has something about themself..

Gk: Kaminski
DL: Pickering/Batty
DR: Brittain/Costello/Carter
DC: Hyam/Wharton
DC: Carter/Ayala(?)/Phillips
ML: Sorba
MR Khadra
MC: O'Brien
MC: Buckley/Wharton
MC: Rothwell
ST: Gallagher

That'd be getting your promoted in my opinion.

 

[roverandout]

1 hour ago, Bohinen1983 said:

I think defensively we're sound- If Ayala leaves I'd bring in another body- a nippy centre half would be cool.

I'd not get a left back, would like to see Jake Batty stake a claim for that position.

I think we're woefully short in midfield I'd bring in:

Box to Box Midfielder: O'Brien mould

Dynamic Ball carrier: Rothwell mould

Two rapid wingers: Khadra and Sorba would be nice

We're going to need competition for Gallagher with Breo leaving- loan someone in that has something about themself..

Gk: Kaminski
DL: Pickering/Batty
DR: Brittain/Costello/Carter
DC: Hyam/Wharton
DC: Carter/Ayala(?)/Phillips
ML: Sorba
MR Khadra
MC: O'Brien
MC: Buckley/Wharton
MC: Rothwell
ST: Gallagher

That'd be getting your promoted in my opinion.

 

Not competition for Gallagher.  A replacement for Gallagher 

[Bohinen1983]

28 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Not competition for Gallagher.  A replacement for Gallagher 

I think given the right service he'd be alright.  Our current problems stem from a lack of chances created imo. I think there's more pressing areas to address.  

[roversfan99]

The "if he had better service" and "if he played down the middle" lines have been said for years.

[rigger]

5 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

The "if he had better service" and "if he played down the middle" lines have been said for years.

That doesn't make them not true.

[roversfan99]

You won't get promoted with Gallagher as your primary goalscoring threat, not a chance.

He has played plenty down the middle and he is as responsible as those around him for his lack of chances. He doesnt anticipate them often enough, Saturday being an exception.

[booth]

6 hours ago, goozburger said:

I need to see a bit more of him. It's early days, but I'd like to think he has more to offer than praying to the officials in disbelief.

I think his presence encourages the other players to get forward.

Edited February 28, 2023 by booth

[chaddyrovers]

9 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

They were above the drop zone even before January so it may seem like chaos but it may well prove inspired.

Given that they signed over 20 players in January with no clear plan in place. January window was better organised 

9 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I would never advocate wreckless spending but you cant be half arsed out of loyalty and obligation. I wouldnt advise signing 20 odd players like Forest (although with that number, they had loads of loanees that went back and also some of their signings have since either had bad injuries or been loaned out) but I always think a new 11 is a good idea if possible and then our best current 11 could then compete with that. I would be doubtful that any of the current squad would establish themselves as Premier League players, unsurprising considering how poor the quality of this league is in comparison.

So 11 new signings you want so you would need to sell 7 or 8 players from your current squad and some of those played a significant part in promotion 

9 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Assuming we stay down, we badly need a striker and a couple of wingers, as well as at least 1 if not probably 2 central midfielders. Fine in net, attacking midfield, and defensively we have 3 full backs who I am happy with but maybe get another left back and maybe get a centre back and loan out Phillips.

1 main striker, left winger to replace BBD and challenge Dolan for that spot, maybe centre midfielder. That's about it. 

Why do we need 2 centre midfielders when we got Buckley, Travis, Wharton and Garrett? 

Defensive we fine with 5 centre backs and 4 full backs in the squad. Keeper wise we are fine

Edited February 28, 2023 by chaddyrovers

[Norbert Rassragr]

Energetic, tough midfielder and at least one striker who is good is a bare minimum whichever division we are in. If we do get promoted, we'd probably need a left back, an upgrade on Ayala, and an attacking midfielder/number 10 type of guy too.

[roverblue]

I would put all the focus into the forward positions, there is only really Dolan of the current crop that I would keep from the front 3 assuming Brereton goes.

Thomas has looked ok if we can get him cheap enough and his form carries on to the end of the season, he isnt a world beater though just better than what we have.

Central midfield is a tough one, we definitely need some experience in there but with Travis finding his form again could end up meaning Wharton/Buckley/Garret dont get any game time. Its irritated me this season seeing Morton get so much game time at their expense if I am honest especially as his performances have been average at best.

[J*B]

Hopefully Huddersfield go down because I'd sign Thomas based on what we've seen so far. He doesn't really fit how we play but I see that as an advantage, he's gone one trick... get past the defender and put a good cross in. 

[Polky]

It’s clear we need a striker and I would love to see Rovers try and sign Miles Leaburn. He would demand a high fee from Charlton, so more than likely we’ll never sign him.

He looks quite raw at the moment, but I’m sure JDT could work his magic on him.

[roversfan99]

13 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Given that they signed over 20 players in January with no clear plan in place. January window was better organised 

So 11 new signings you want so you would need to sell 7 or 8 players from your current squad and some of those played a significant part in promotion 

1 main striker, left winger to replace BBD and challenge Dolan for that spot, maybe centre midfielder. That's about it. 

Why do we need 2 centre midfielders when we got Buckley, Travis, Wharton and Garrett? 

Defensive we fine with 5 centre backs and 4 full backs in the squad. Keeper wise we are fine

You seem to be really against what Forest have done but they came up as the weakest of the 3 teams (play off winners) even before considering that literally half of their best 11 was built on loans. They had to go down the route of a huge overhaul even merely to match/replace the side that had gone up in the play offs. Obviously I am not advocating quite such widespread change, and there are examples of wastage (not all to which they were at fault for, they signed Lodi and Richards as left backs but then had to get Toffolo as Richards instantly got a bad injury, they signed a couple for the under 21s and a couple to instantly be loaned out etc) that you need to limit but their approach has been so far successful, they started poorly but were above the drop zone even before January and probably will stay up. If they do stay up, their approach has been successful as not many clubs who come up through the play offs built on loan signings after over 20 years below the Premier League would stay up.

If we went up, yes there would be casualties, there are always players that fall between useful Championship players for squads at the top end and at the same time not up to Premier League standard, look at Seri who was excellent for Fulham and moved on to Hull, Jamal Lowe played a part at Bournemouth last season and is now at QPR, Tobias Figuerido played quite a lot at Forest and he is now at Hull, Nathaniel Chalaboh is now at West Brom, Josh Onomah is now at Preston, it happens every season.

For us, I would probably look at players like Hedges, Gallagher, Szmodics, Pears, maybe Pickering and one or two others and think, are they going to be anything close to Premier League quality? Probably not, but equally, off the back of playing a part (none are integral starters) of a promotion, they would be attractive to top half Championship teams. Seems ruthless and cold but you can't rest on your laurels and be sentimental. Some may go out on loan and then could potentially be useful again should we come back down. Equally, the likes of Phillips, Adam Wharton etc would go from quite possibly sticking around to definitely going out on loan.

All hypothetical as probability dictates that the chance of promotion is slim, but still.

[Mike E]

3 hours ago, J*B said:

Hopefully Huddersfield go down because I'd sign Thomas based on what we've seen so far. He doesn't really fit how we play but I see that as an advantage, he's gone one trick... get past the defender and put a good cross in. 

He's the definition of the game changer. Like Josh King, allows us to clear our lines and threaten rather than hoof and hope.

[chaddyrovers]

I would like us to sign Thomas permanently in the summer. 

[davulsukur]

A couple of strikers are a must. Vale coming on as a sub doesn't really add much. If anything it hinders us.

[roverandout]

We are a quality striker away from being a force next season 

[wilsdenrover]

20 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Looking at that pitch last night - what would Ewood have been like with that rain ? The quality of what you’re playing on makes a massive difference. It’s the difference between playing one touch football in areas and having to take an extra touch just to be sure the ball is where you want it to be.

This is from the Leicester city thread but it got me wondering:

At what point would you priories improving the pitch over strengthening the squad?

For example, I’d not do so ‘at the cost’ of not getting a centre forward in but I would instead of improving at left back.

Ideally of course we’d get all the players we need/want AND make the pitch better as well

[Dreams of 1995]

13 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

This is from the Leicester city thread but it got me wondering:

At what point would you priories improving the pitch over strengthening the squad?

For example, I’d not do so ‘at the cost’ of not getting a centre forward in but I would instead of improving at left back.

Ideally of course we’d get all the players we need/want AND make the pitch better as well

Improving the pitch doesn’t fall under FFP 

So in reality, if Venkys wanted to they could give us a PL standard pitch and a centre forward

The issue is that they don’t want to 

Any improvements to infrastructure and facilities is considered outside of FFP if I am correct 

[booth]

1 minute ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Improving the pitch doesn’t fall under FFP 

So in reality, if Venkys wanted to they could give us a PL standard pitch and a centre forward

The issue is that they don’t want to 

Any improvements to infrastructure and facilities is considered outside of FFP if I am correct 

If we somehow got promoted it may make them realise that that's where the money is.

Such a shame that we're only 9 points away from second place and we didn't sign a few more players to give us an edge over our rivals.

[wilsdenrover]

6 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Improving the pitch doesn’t fall under FFP 

So in reality, if Venkys wanted to they could give us a PL standard pitch and a centre forward

The issue is that they don’t want to 

Any improvements to infrastructure and facilities is considered outside of FFP if I am correct 

I’m sure you’re right that they’ve not spent the money on the pitch  because they just don’t want to.

I know it shouldn’t be one or the other but I just wondered at what point (if at all) people would choose improving the pitch over improving the squad.

Id want at least a centre forward and ‘all action’ midfielder first

 

[J*B]

37 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Improving the pitch doesn’t fall under FFP 

So in reality, if Venkys wanted to they could give us a PL standard pitch and a centre forward

The issue is that they don’t want to 

Any improvements to infrastructure and facilities is considered outside of FFP if I am correct 

That isn’t the issue in my opinion, the issue is Waggott will have told them “I will ensure this club doesn’t cost you more than X per year” and that’s the budget everyone is working towards. Venkys will have:

1) No idea the pitch needs replacing

2) No idea how much it costs

3) No idea they can do it without breaking FFP