roversfan99

Andy Bayes seems to think that O'Riordan is cup tied.

You just repeat how certain clubs operate. Its not an opinion. My point is that IMO its an illogical way to run a football club. Makes no sense trying to copy off other sports. I feel like power mad higher ups are the cause of many clubs running inefficiently. The manager should have full say on transfers and tactics and those above and around him should do what they can to assist with that.

Looking forward to seeing numerous signings in action at the weekend.

My point is about that we have jettisoned any natural leaders, seemingly to cut the wage bill and to presumably remove anyone with strong opinions. Its not about which of the current squad should be captain. It is transfer related as we could do with a leader in the middle of the defence, or at least someone with experience. Not someone on their last legs like McFadzean. And Cashin wouldnt fit the bill for me.

Its going to be one terrible looking we team we manage to put out.

Yep, a sad day. Amorim was doing well in making United a laughing stock. More relevant to Chelsea, but football is going into a strange direction. Off the field executives and high power staff members yield too much power and managers (or head coaches) are becoming less and less "important." People who havent managed a team now decide the players to sign, the players to sell, get involved in what tactics to play etc. It makes no sense, and often ends in chaos.

Yes, but as I said. That particular squad was full of senior leaders. Clint Hill, Shaun Derry, Paddy Kenny, Fitz Hall etc. They weren't looking to Taarabt for inspiration, for leadership, for guidance. It was purely a case of making Taarabt feel special, a somewhat token gesture knowing that if they needed some leadership, it would come not from the captain but the leaders I mentioned regardless of who had the armband. If we also had a core of experience and leadership, then you can do similar with Cantwell. As it is, that is not the case and not only is it to make Cantwell feel special, but he is probably the one they turn to because theres no one else. I suspect it is beyond you to suggest that we are lacking in experience and leadership. And when you see a bang average Sean McLoughlin, fresh off a spell as a Hull squad player, not in any way appearing from the outside to be an obvious leader, leading out our team in a league game, nothing in you thinks how has it come to this? And thats not having a go at him personally. You dont like me saying it but it comes down to standards.

My overall point is that there is a severe lack of obvious leaders and experience within the squad. Taarabt was made QPR captain in a squad full of actual leaders so it was a token gesture in a way. We dont have that beyond Cantwell. And I think the captaincy was moved away from Taarabt after a bit.

Do you not agree that the squad is lacking well beyond merely just temporary loan cover until the injured players?

I touched on in my post that we dont really have any captains. We shoved senior players out the door, and currently there are 2 captains at Championship clubs who are superior to us that were here last season. Tronstad probably would be but I suspect wasnt considered as he will be off in the summer. The fact that McLaughlin wears the armband sometimes tells you a lot. He is certainly not captain material either. Can see a semblance of logic in giving him the armband, to try and get him to step up similar to what Warnock did to Taarabt. But I dont think he is a natural captain. But as a player, definitely a number of much bigger concerns in our team.

Tronstad is the best player we have. Cantwell though is far from our biggest problem, we certainly dont have players on the bench capable of improving. He isnt captain material but I am not sure we really have anyone that stands out.

I think 1 was a penalty. Who would you be bringing in for him?

He does actually try things though. Such as the quality for the goal shortly after. He is a soft arse and he isnt a captain for me but I cant see anyone I would drop him for.

Bench for who? He was crap v Wrexham but much better today. He also did make something happen for the first with an excellent cross.

He was one of our better players today, his cross for the first was excellent and he is hindered by a lack of technical ability around him. I don't buy the idea that he is a "luxury player" either. He does work harder than his image might suggest. I am not saying that he always is effective, he was really poor v Wrexham, and he is not a good striker of the ball in terms of scoring goals. But we shouldnt stop selecting him.

I think we would need at least 3 wingers. I would be fine sticking with the back 3 though so a couple of wing backs, a couple of strikers and a right footed centre back. And not just cheap squad fillers.

A manager with a limited say in recruitment despite him being the one who actually has to get results using those players. Chelsea have loads of good players but many are in similar positions and key areas of weakness remain unresolved. If they werent so intent on a "structure" mirroring other sports then maybe they would be closer to the top.

Exactly this. We are so weak down the sides. If we go full backs then we are well covered there but need a totally new set of wingers. But if we decide to stick to wing backs then at a bare minimum in this window we need a starting left sider and some competition for Alebiosu. Pickering was so blatantly in a position that doesnt suit him. Miller is also clearly better suited as a right centre back, if he is to start which is a different debate altogether.

The idea that Miller suffers from being signed by Gestede is utter rubbish. Alebiosu was signed by him and has only ever been praised. Gudjohnsen is seen as a good signing. The reason that many of his signings get criticism isnt because he signed them, its because they are crap. (Not specifically Miller here) Merely trying hard doesnt make him exempt from criticism. Although the ball at the second time of asking for our second was a very good one. Miller is clearly not a wing back. Him playing there for Australia against crap teams doesnt disprove that. Pickering certainly isnt a left wing back either. Lacks the mobility and energy. We badly need a new left wing back. Maybe 2.

He wouldnt get that job if he wasnt at Chelsea's feeder club.

No one has ever said that every transfer needs to be successful.

The club are clearly pushing that narrative. We have a number of urgent priorities. Ismael said a week or 2 ago about our business being done by Hull. Lets see.

He did a very good job at Barnsley and that shouldnt be taken away from him. But that was ages ago and has been followed by repeated failures. Hes a crap manager, hes not the main issue here by a long stretch and he is working with shit (even if he did seemingly endorse it being built) but his record is woeful and hes been here long enough.

If you break it down, its not a hard luck story. We need 2 strikers. We have 3, one in Gudjohnsen has an injury for a month. It hardly should be a knockout blow and it came after being overplayed. We have a striker in Gueye signed by Gestede who is so bad he cant make the squad. We also have changed formation. These reasons are the main ones we are so short up top, not injuries. We need a central defender. The main reason is that we shoved Hyam out the door without replacement. Carter and Wharton's injuries were totally predictable. We need a left wing back. Yes the Hedges injury is unfortunate, but if De Neve was decent and not such an embarassment, it wouldnt be such a urgent issue. We need a right wing back, perhaps mainly due to the formation change although Miller isnt good enough to cover. Tavares, Kargbo and Forshaw are injured. Adds to the numbers to help the woe is me act, are any being missed? Morishita is a miss but its only for a month and in a position where its not a critical blow.

Even if we can only sign 3 or 4, left wing back has to be one of those.