rovers11

We’ll get a hammering today. Anthony Knockaert will destroy Bell on the left and Mitrovic will kill us with his aerial ability (and our severe lack of heading ability). 4-1 Fulham

Thank you to Mulgrew. He was sensational for us in the lge 1 season and has generally been a good leader on and off the pitch. Absolutely the right decision to let him go as his legs have gone over the past year. I don’t think Wigan are getting the player they think they’re getting in Mulgrew. Lots of quality on the ball but can’t do the basics of defending and gets caught out with the ball over the top too many times. I don’t get the “Wigan have had a great window and can push for the top 6” line on Twitter. They lost their best player in Powell and I can’t see any real quality in the players they’ve signed. I would take our signings over theirs any day of the week. Overall, not a bad window for us but probably not a good enough one for us to break into the top 6. But who knows?

Looking at other clubs’ twitter feeds, it seems that there are a lot of disappointed fans and many feel their club has had a shocking transfer window. I would say Fulham have had a blinder and should walk the league. Boro and Charlton potentially had the worst? Lost key players and not bought anyone of note. Many clubs have bought good players but also lost very good players (e.g West Brom, Brentford, Leeds, Derby). Interesting season ahead. I would expect another lower mid table finish.

IF Cunningham gets over the line then we have a stronger defence than we started the day (and the window) with. Still not as strong as it could and should have been, but it’s still stronger overall. Mulgrew going also improves us as his legs have gone and he’s now a liability. A back four of: Nyambe Lenihan Tosin Cunningham Not too bad at all and an improvement on the back four at the weekend. Williams will now permanently move into the CB reckon where he’s decent. I do fear what that back four will look like if we get an injury or two though. However, I’d still rather not have Mulgrew (or Bell) in the back four regardless of whether there is an injury or not. They are both hopeless. Bennett is an ok right back, but will be down the pecking order to JRC and Nyambe as the season goes on imo.

No chance Reed was in today for talks.

I’m never convinced by Sharpe’s info, more guesswork from him I’d imagine.

Must be a CB incoming. We wouldn’t let him go without one.

Mulgrew is finished as a defender. Hope we have someone to replace him though.

Mulgrew has gone

I agree. Yesterday he denied the Cunningham links.

That sounds very promising indeed. Sounds like a done deal but knowing our luck there will be a last minute glitch. Was widely regarded as one of the best LBs in the league before his move to Cardiff.

Cunningham would be an excellent signing. I’ll believe it when I see it. Him and a decent CB today and we’ll have gone from an average window to a very good one. That’s how crucial the next few hours are.

You'd think we'd need to be very strongly linked with a defender today for something to happen tomorrow. Our recent pattern shows we are normally strongly linked with a player at least 24 hours before they sign, but I have yet to see us strongly linked with a defender from a reputable source so looking unlikely at this stage. I'm absolutely flabbergasted that TM has not addressed the defensive situation at all. The signings we have made are good, but overall this window has been a huge failure due to not addressing our main weaknesses. I am a big fan of TM and believe he has done an incredible job, but sadly I think his job will be under huge pressure this season as we're likely to be confined to another lower mid table finish due to his failures in the transfer market. In saying that, a LB and CB signing and we're back in the game.

I presume we can still sign free transfers after the window has closed?

I think we will sign one defender before the deadline, probably someone who is a CB but can play left back too. That’s not based on any info, just a hunch.

I’m hoping it does. We have a top 6 in the making so it would be very disappointing if we cant sign a couple of defenders that can head simple crosses out of our box

Stating the obvious but Bell, Mulgrew, Bennett are not good enough. How on earth are these players still starting after the shambolic defensive record last season? Lenihan is good, Nyambe has potential, Walton will be good, and Williams is an ok back-up centre half but that’s the extent of any quality we have in defensive areas. Big week ahead on the transfer front.

My predicted team: Walton Bennett Mulgrew Lenihan Bell Travis Johnson Armstrong Dack Downing Graham The team I would like to see: Walton Nyambe Mulgrew Lenihan Bell Travis Johnson Armstrong Dack Rothwell Graham

Good summary.

I think we’re very much in the dark horses category next season, probably along with Brentford. I think a top 6 finish is a real possibility as we’ve got a decent squad and it’s a weak league this year. Fulham have got the best team by miles and Leeds will be decent too, but then there’s not a lot in it. The two other teams who’ve come down from the prem are nothing to worry about, and some of the teams who did well last year (West Brom, Derby, Middlesbrough) have lost good players and are under new management. Even other teams who finished above (e.g Forest and Brum, if you discount their points deduction) have had unstable summers.

That sounds very promising. Two things that we lack in our defence - heading ability and pace - so hopefully he can help plug those gaps. We have to stop conceding goals from simple crosses into the box.

I’m not too fussed whether the city guy signs or not. He may well be a good player and I’d support him if he comes, but I’m not a huge fan of loan signings, especially when there’s little chance of signing them after their loan period.

You’re absolutely right. It does look like we have a golden generation of young players coming through our youth system and the future is bright if they stick around. Add that to the likes of Rothwell, Brereton (I think he’ll come good) and Chapman, and we have a very good set of young players. The transfer dealings so far have lacked the wow factor, but our younger players coming through mean we could have a very strong year.

Good GK, pleased to have him here. Not sure if he’s an upgrade on Raya though, probably about the same. Hopefully the Raya cash will be spent on a CB, as TM has said recently.

That would make sense. Walton is surely not coming here to sit on the bench; and Eastwood is an experienced, cheap option who won’t mind being a back-up GK.