roversfan99

With Weimann though, he falls into the category of useful squad player, not necessarily regular starter. Szmodics is obviously going but Moran also left so there is space for him either way.

I know. My point is that Weimann is having to do a trial to prove himself, rather than just having a medical and then signing, so there is clearly doubt as to whether he will be signing. Batth has barely played for a year for example yet went straight to the stage of terms and medical.

I wonder what is happening with Weimann. Baath and McFadzean are being/have been signed without having to prove their fitness.

To have sold less than 4k adult tickets at a point where prices have gone up to stupid levels in stage 3, with no willingness to change that policy, is far worse than I even imagined.

Pickering is a solid player, reads the game well, rarely lets you down. Gent is still an unknown, and apparently not a left back, more of a wing back. We do still need a left back and left sided centre back amongst a lot of other things.

I dont doubt that we need 2 centre backs. But we need at least one left sided one and not 2 past their best who are very slow. Both or at least McFadzean would only be possible in a 3, we dont have a left sided one to play that effectively and you wouldnt want both Batth and McFadzean in the same team.

Why are we signing Batth AND McFadzean? A season of defending on our 18 yard box?

"Rumour?" Its a Premier League move, possibly his last chance. Of course he will go if allowed. Heard where?

He should be up to speed but he surely will need a break at some point.

He said we want those particular 2? If we sign one of them, we need a younger, quicker left footed one too. It would be stupid to sign 2 slow and old right footed centre backs. We need a couple of wingers to bring pace and crossing ability. Dembele wouldnt bring the latter. Brittain is hit and miss, if hes our main hope to supply Gueye then I would worry. Obviously thats pre transfers. Its not what do I want. I wasnt asking for a detailed breakdown of how we play in friendlies or even how we will likely play this season. I just dont think we have good crossers currently at our disposal and I think its a valid point.

Brittain puts in the occasional good cross but often either side are a few wayward ones or him turning back. Pickering is usually less likely to get into crossing positions. Whether Gueye will have the aerial dominance of Gestede for example is a big ask but he had Conway (and Marshall) who were very good crossers. Take them away and Gestede doesnt score half as many.

The minutes are anticlimatic. The adult sales are the key ones and the sales figure is pathetic. Yet Waggott wasnt seemingly pushed on poor pricing and shut down talk on amending these ridiculous 3rd phase prices which rule out further sales.

So amidst your random repeated lines about WATR meetings, holding the width, how we want to play, what Elliott Jackson thinks. The answer is, no, you cant name players we have that are good crossers because we dont have them. Therefore my point stands.

Big pressure on him to score goals when Szmodics goes, fingers crossed he can help to plug the gap. Its an interesting couple of potential additions along with Ohashi, when a similar joint fee gets Stoke Gallagher and Ennis, or it could have got us (maybe even for a fee higher than what we are spending) Dykes. It shows that the domestic market is really hard to find quality, so looking further afield makes sense. His goal record in Belgium is consistently 1 in 3. So not bad, not prolific. He has played for weaker sides so was somewhat up against it, he will likely be in a struggling side here so he will be used to it. How does the Belgian league compare to the Championship quality wise? I read on this thread both that he had some penalties amongst those goals and that his goals mainly came in a short burst, and then topped up with 3 in the end of season play offs against only weaker teams. He was described as not a natural finisher and not technically great in the LT today by a Belgian league expert. Perhaps not the natural goalscorer we sorely will need. His spell in Spain in the second division was clearly a nightmare, couldnt score a goal and their fans are very vocal on social media on how bad he was. Hopefully that was because the Spanish style doesnt suit him, and maybe the Championship will, but still it is a bit of a red flag. Everything suggests that his main attribute is his ability in the air. We don't have good crossers, but Eustace does like long ball football, so it is hard to tell whether his style suits us. Just a few thoughts, and overall a very difficult transfer to predict without any of us knowing who he is.

Have we put in loads of crosses in friendlies (ie not competitive games) in which we have just lacked a big man to head them in? Point being, we dont have wingers who go on the outside and/or are good crossers. We have been linked with Dembele, again not a good crosser. From what I have read, Gueye's strength lies in the air but I fear without a considerable revamp of our wide options and a change of style, our current personnel aren't very good at crossing. Whatever he said at whatever meeting, he might not get what he wants. Eustace likes playing long ball football so I can see why a big target man might suit him. But if he specifically thrives off crosses, that is a weakness in our squad so we will struggle to get the most out od that skill. Dolan, Hedges, Markanday and Sigurdsson all prefer to play on the opposite side and cut in. If Rankin Costello plays wide, he drifts in too. Which of our current players are good crossers?

Rovers Insider is full of shit.

We require some goals from our main striker with Szmodics leaving. Lets hope he can get plenty.

True. If he is technically poor that will stand out more in Spain. But to literally score 0 goals isnt ideal. Do we? Is that because Eustace plays long ball, do you mean? We dont have players who cross a ball well.

Im not sure merely signing for a club that he then scored 0 goals for and made himself a laughing stock is anything to be excited about. It was in the Segunda division too.

The biggest problem is, has been and always will be Venkys.

Unsure what to make of this signing but lets hope he does well. From what I have read including today in the LT, a big lump who is great in the air but not very good with his feet. Mixed track record and there is a lot of pressure on him to score some goals so fingers crossed. Much more interesting that going for a well known pile of shite like Dykes who would possibly have even cost more. Seems like the fee is not too dissimilar to the fee we will get for Gallagher. So when Szmodics goes, surely we can spend a big chunk of that money? Or maybe not.

Finneran leaving is disappointing but in my opinion understandable. He is going to a Premier League club who will offer bigger money and can potentially have more scope to do what is best for him. People criticised Phillips but Finneran could have ended up in a similar position when ready to play games. Cant be let out on loan but not yet in a position to play week in week out. Going to a big Premier League club means that these players wont be 4th or 5th choice, but that in turn allows their clubs to find loan deals without having the dilemma of needing them as cover. I think some of the vitriol is over the top. I can understand why these young lads opt for bigger clubs and bigger contracts, I think it shows a lack of empathy not to be able to acknowledge it. May work out, may not, but I understand the decision.

Reading that write up in the LT about Gueye, it seems he very much will not be the natural goalscorer we have been crying out for up front. And will need even more when Szmodics goes. Great in the air, not that we have the players to feed him with crosses. Not the quickest and technically not very good.

He shouldnt be too hard to replace but I listed a number of players thay weve had within the last 2 years that have all been noticeably worse. So no, "nearly any warm body" wont be an upgrade in the market we usually shop in.