Boro are a good side to be fair. Hard working and good defensively. 

Just now, Tom said:

Nice from Dolan there, I think he’s been decent, couple things not come off but more involved than most 

Not for me. Dijksteel has had an easy task against him and he offers no help defensively. 

I'd sub Dolan for Rothwell during the break.

Just now, simongarnerisgod said:

i humbly suggest that tony puts another midfielder in there,boro are walking through us,trybull has gone awol,tbh,id`e drive the **** back to norwich tommorow

He's on a yellow. Poor decision by the ref. Not much help defensively from the other midfielders.

Being outworked and outclassed here. Too few outlets unfortunately, but hopefully we can snatch a goal and turn the momentum around.

Just now, Feed the Yak said:

JRC has a place in this side but not at right back. He played some great balls in so maybe the right side of the front three? 

Lenihan needs some time out, no doubt about it. Inept today and streaky at the best of times. 

We definitely missed Kaminski, Pears was positionally at fault for the first goal but did make a great reflex save off of Williams. 

Mowbray needs to look at sorting this defence out, quickly. We're playing the best football I've seen us play in a long time, but we look so exposed at the back it's all for nowt. 

Can't fault Pears for that goal. It was a fluke goal. He was out of position for their fourth but Williams should be covering the far post as it's always easier for the GK to save near post.

JRC and Lenihan on the right side of defense isn't good enough, and unfortunately there's no Tosin there to save us today, nor a composed seasoned veteran in Ayala. Were weakened by the two forced changes Mowbray had to make, but why he needed to watch over an hour of football before making a change, I don't know.

Just now, Miker said:

I don't know what happened to Lenihan. He has been one of my favourite players of the past few years, but he has a string of poor performances at the back now and absolutely must be dropped.

Him and JRC both equally culpable for the 2nd and 3rd goals for me. 

You can see why Reading are hard to breakdown... the team is full of pace, so they get back in numbers very quickly.

If we got a 2nd goal before half time I think we could have turned it around, but not so sure now.

I agree, they have both left each other exposed and have been way too erratic against a good attacking side when they have no one covering them. Holtbys yellow card is the work of JRC.

I'm sure Mowbray won't make any changes for a while yet.

We have one of the best right backs in Nyambe... why is JRC starting? Terrible game so far. Evans not up to it, Williams being found out against good attackers. Unlucky on the first goal but the next two are big mistakes from JRC (Bennett jr. and Mowbrays new favourite) in the lead-up.

We're just as good as them, if not better, but we have to start finding the right balance ffs. 

Bell looked uncomfortable both ways tonight. Corry Evans clearly not 100% match fit and Johnson needs to know when not to lose possession. Lost us the previous match.

They were happy to sit back and counter, having obviously done their homework - we're too naive and quite frankly horrible at defending counter attacking teams. They have PL quality going forward, we don't. And a little more tonight than we did.

I hope the referee takes a look at his performance too. Should have sent off Kabasele and given one or two cards for cynical fouls and time-wasting. 

Watford time wasting from the get-go. They can rot.

Good grief...

Poor by Kaminski. Some shocking defending here, back to naive football. Still time, but wow...

Player of last month.....

Need to pick up points in these sort of games, can't afford to lose all three points. Not the strongest squad today so we'll come back better.

8 hours ago, RoversClitheroe said:

We do have to remember he's not playing weekly due to being a free agent, so his match fitness is probably awful. 

Everyone was saying he would be an upgrade on Bell too right? 

No, they didn't. For a man looking for a job he didn't put in a good application, to put it mildly. Stay well clear.

39 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

He makes it sound as though him being fit for part of his contract is actually something people should be grateful for!

Think he's just after a new club and doesn't want to be labeled a sicknote. 

12 hours ago, yankfan said:

If we’re going to sign a Norwegian left back, might as well be the best one in the country on a free...even if he’s not better than Bell, we need cover at left back anyway. 

If only he was the best I personally rate Birger Meling higher, but think Lagerbäck doesn't rate the domestic league (Meling left to join Nimes in July) and possibly feels Norway are vulnerable on set pieces with two smaller fullbacks. He has a very statistic driven approach.

That Forest deal for Grosicki puts them in a bad light and should be looked at.

Has Downing found himself a new club yet? 

13 hours ago, 47er said:

Good coming forward, runs with the ball at pace. I think his crossing has improved in the few game of this season. He's young, should be the back-up while we "bring him on".

If he doesn't develop enough, well he didn't cost much in the first place.

He's 26, so not that young. Still room for improvement though, and has played fairly well so far this season.

12 minutes ago, bluebruce said:

Interesting, that wasn't the impression I got from the clips at all. Aleesami looked a lot more confident and decisive, a little rough, and maybe lacking discipline. Also seemed to turn reasonably quickly.

Just goes to show what a well composed highlight reel can do to impressions of a player!

It's a game of opinions too, but everybody can be a judge if and when he signs. 

2 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

That would be worry, raw ability and Amarii Bell arent things I would put in the same sentence!

I guess. He's our most frustrating player in my view because I always feel as if he plays at 75% of his ability. A little more intensity and concentration and there's a player in there somewhere.

9 hours ago, bluebruce said:

If you don't think he would improve the team, are you saying you disagree he is better than Bell?

It's a coin toss. Bell has more raw ability but gets let down by his lack of confidence and decision making. Aleesam is diciplined but doesn't offer much going forward despite having a decent cross when someone sets him up. They remind me of each other in that they both stand off too much and are often times 'too nice' to their opponents. Not particularly quick, nor quick on the turn, and along with Bell not decisive enough for me going forward. He would offer depth, but I'm not sure he'd displace Bell at this given time. 

Just now, Swanson said:

Partly true, but he got experience from international football, Serie A and Ligue 1. On a free transfer it is low risk transfer and I doubt he would demand any big wages. In my view he is an upgrade on Bell.

He would improve the squad, but not the team imo. No resale value either. Definitely underwhelming if this is what we end up with this window.

Aleesami cut from the same cloth as Bell. The weak link of our national team. No thank you from me.

5 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Yeah I think the deal was announced on Friday but one thing is for sure, that he wasnt very close to signing for us to the point that Jaquob Crooke was posting ? emojis and basically preparing fans expecting an announcement.

Apologies if ive got mixed up but I think you have said in the past that he hasnt got any direct sources and I would have to agree. He very much goes as vague as possible with what he can gather from the public domain. Rich Sharpe seems to be the main person regarding transfers but he himself is more of a person who will check and usually deny a rumour once it is already out there.

The emoji response was when asked directly "Ryan Manning looking likely?". He then said he was unable to confirm the identity.

40 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

 

Garner surely.

15 minutes ago, TruRover said:

Kevin McDonald available on a free transfer from Fulham. Would be all over that if the wages arnt too much. Can play in central midfield and at CB and has two promotions in 3 seasons with Fulham. 

Looks like he's hardly played the past couple of seasons, has he been injured?. A no for me regardless, don't need another B. Johnson with no re-sale value and legs half gone.

I think earlier posts suggesting that Manning and other money signings depend on Raya/King deals getting over the line are spot on. It could potentially drag on until the end of the window but hopefully there's good news coming. We have a good mix of youth and experience in our current squad, and are only missing one or two pieces to the puzzle in order to challenge for promotion.