roversfan99

Meanwhile we are trying to decide which of our options, consisting of a young lad not ready for Championship and having just missed a year out injured, and our main striker signed from a relegated Belgian side in the summer who has scored just the one league goal, is the most deserving of covering our striker signed for peanuts from Japan who has scored 1 in something like 18 games whilst he is injured.

Based on his performances. And my eyes. I dont think that hes ready to be playing regular Championship football. Certainly not a reasonable amount of game time for a club supposedly fighting for a play off place. He is very raw, he has had injury problems and missed a lot of football, he needs a loan in League 1 to get some regular football. It is also as others have said not fair on him to expect so much so soon. Im guessing youd have a new striker, Ohashi, Gueye and Leonard all in the squad for the rest of the season.

He wasnt really a regular starter until that one last season under Mowbray which is the only one when he has looked any good. And his primary asset playing high up was winning the ball back so he was working off the ball. I know its fashionable to back and blame Mowbray for a lot of things but Buckley is not one of those things. He wont be here next season but he also wont be starting for Liverpool. Hes out for a month so that part wont be particularly smart.

I meant in those 11 years that I mentioned after those first couple of particularly odd years when there was still a novelty factor for them. In fact, since we got relegated after that initial summer. Dack may have been a big signing for League 1 but spending £750k on him is not investing much.

It might be an attempt to keep him happy/to try and motivate him but either way, hes barely played which tells you all you need to know. Captain of our second team in the cup or not. Hes not good enough but because we couldnt afford to sign any reasonable cover we now have to play him while Travis is out. Or likely will. Id play JRC there.

There was but as you say, low cost. The likes of Cairney, Gestede and Conway for really cheap. There has been bits of good recruitment at various points in spite of a lack of investment. Point being, when you do invest, you often only need to strike gold on one and it more than covers a number of purchases. Both Mowbray and Broughton/JDT proved that, money spent and assets created well in excess of what was paid, even covering the odd dud which will happen wherever you are. Venkys are too disinterested, ignorant and thick to realise.

The thing is, and this also dispels the idea that theyve only stopped investing since the court case. Across Bowyer, Coyle, numerous Mowbray, Tomasson and now Eustace, there have have only been 2 reasonable patches of fees spent. The main one was under Mowbray. We signed Brereton, Armstrong and Gallagher for £15m and also signed Rothwell during that time for a nominal fee. Armstrong's sale alone covered that, Brereton and Rothwell should have generated nearly that amount again if it wasnt for their own stupidity, and it all allowed for one of the signings not to lead to a potential big fee in, and even then we did claw a bit of the Gallagher fee back. We also lived off those goals between them for a number of years on the pitch. The second was £4m or so spent under Tomasson. Brittain and Hyam havent had resale value but are regulars in the side, but simply one of the 3 having resale led to a profit of about £5m. Some players signed will not go on to have the resale they want and that has to be accepted. But in both cases, money has been spent, not perfectly and not solely on sellable assets, but its shown in both instances that it is not just a cost to the business to invest.

Would he? Is he actually good enough and intelligent enough on the ball to be great?

Probably not, certainly not than Gueye. Ohashi I would put ahead of him even though he hasnt been setting the world alight. I also think for Leonard's sake, he needs a loan to get regular game time. He certainly isnt ready for where we are supposedly aiming. Ideally, sign a good striker ASAP, maybe keep Leonard until the end of the window at which point Ohashi wont be far off, and loan him to League 1.

On the likes of Leonard and Buckley, its all well and good saying that the coaches said this and that if indeed they did say those exact words. But 3 points: - I totally get putting a lot of stock into what these people say, they are professionals and they have worked with them so they are much better placed than us. But equally they arent perfect. - they will at least subconsciously be biased. They will be more desperate than anyone to see players they coached and worked with succeed. - the most important part. These comments are outdated. They were making predictions based purely on academy football, where players are in a sanitised environment, developing at different speeds, without any evidence of first team football at that time. So many players do not follow the path that was expected of them, positively or negatively. Sometimes players especially physically might develop quicker than their peers so might stand out which levels out as they get older. They might struggle with the totally different demands of senior football. I personally think Leonard being very young still has a chance and is just not ready at the moment but might be especially after a loan. Im not saying hes rubbish by any means, there is something to work with. But he shouldnt be a primary part of a side with any ambition of being towards the top of the Championship and it would be unfair on him as much as anyone. Buckley needs a fresh start probably in League 1.

Theres no way that Buckley is a decent player putting in 75% effort. Im sure he is putting in more than that now. How highly rated he was as a kid is total conjecture but there are loads of players who are highly rated before theyve really emerged and do not go on to have anything like the career people may have thought. Standing out in young age groups doesnt equate to going on to having a career at the top. I think putting questions about his attitude aside, he isnt as talented as some people still seem to think. Maybe its his style (which maybe also increases perceptions about his lack of effort) that makes people think he better than he is. When you first see him he appears smooth on the ball. But he is too slow of thought, lending himself to being dispossed and he often resorts to fairly aimless lobs forward to no one in particular. He loves a lofted pass forward where even if it was accurate, its very difficult for an attacker to do anything with. He had a couple of good months in Mowbray's last season in a position where he was predominantly there to win the ball back, he wasnt receiving the ball in tight areas and his lack of goal threat during that period was not costly because it was during Brereton's purple patch. Since he has never really sustained any sort of form, he went on loan to a poor side and couldnt get a kick and 2 managers havent fancied him since.

I think hes left with little choice. He clearly hasnt wanted to use him but now he may have to with Baker having gone back, Travis injured and the best we could do in the market being Rudy's old mate signed from Plymouth's bench for "next to nothing." Hes a bit more old school and places a lot of importance it seems in a happy dressing room. I saw giving him captaincy for the cup games when we play a second string as a bit of a token gesture

Lots of evasion as ever.

I dont think hes ready now but even his biggest fan I dont think would describe him as generational. So you think hes a suitable first choice striker for a top 6 chasing side? Why do you want us to sign a striker if we have him plus Ohashi and Gueye as subs?

Its a hell of a statement to think that Leonard is expected to play in the Premier League and for England. Either way, if he gets lots of game time here before the end of the season, it doesnt suggest a club taking a top 6 push seriously.

Im not sure Bamford or Jed Wallace are generals that will take you to war. Good attacking players in their day but on the decline, and Bamford always injured including for the next month.

Yep, certainly not generational. Not deadly either or seeming like a natural finisher but does have good movement.

Buckley is different to Tronstad and Travis. The latter 2 are very good Championship midfielders. Buckley isnt Championship standard. Why didnt we sign a more energetic midfielder to cover Travis rather than one of Rudy's mates who is on the scrapheap?

So in the 4 games prior and any games after in which Travis or Tronstad miss out, we are weak with Buckley not good enough and Rudy getting his old mate to help out.

The problem is, people are saying whats te problem hes only cover as if he wil be 4th choice. Baker was third and he was solid cover. Now, Buckley has been promoted to 3rd in line, he isnt up to that and Travis is injured for a few weeks.

West Brom are no longer appointing Wicky after issues with his backroom team. Wonder if theyll come for Eustace.

They dont want to full stop. They hadnt been in the years prior.

Presumably with the unexpected nature of Baker leaving, we hadnt got together a list of 3-5 midfielders in half a week. If we had, I can only imagine the level of the others on that list. Corry Evans having left a short term contract in League 2? Jason Lowe?

"Good quick management" to sign Forshaw. Glowing report from Eustace, cost "next to nothing."

Eustace is as publically underwhelmed as youll see based on those quotes. At least Gestede did his old mate a favour.