roversfan99

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.

Ismael has also said we need to wait on Hedges in terme of whether we need to replace him. How? Even if its 8 weeks of course we need someone.

Seems to be a lot of differences each week in what is said. Wants 2 this week rather than them all done by the same date. Also this stance on being above loans in the summer looks even more silly now. I dont have a problem with loans as long as you arent overly reliant on them and obviously injuries can increase the need but it shows the lack of planning to say it, then loan in 2 and probably end January with a full compliment of them. 3 or 4 is not enough, nor would just loans be enough, we need a minimum of 5 in including at least 2 or 3 permanently. A left wing back is an absolutely critical and urgent requirement on par with a couple of forwards. Pickering isnt a wing back, Ribeiro obviously isnt and De Neve is pitiful. We also need more natural cover for Alebiosu and a right footed centre back.

Another poor result and poor performance in a game we needed to be winning. I mean things are desperate that people seem to be bigging up Gueye again as if his absence is anything but a blessing. Baradji is a mixed bag overall and can be quite loose on the ball but there is ability there. If he continues to offer a goal threat from midfield today then it will be crucial for us. Atcheson also did well on his full debut. Again was loose at times and I do think its easier being one of the wide centre backs but showed a lot of promise and a lot of energy and purpose. Pickering is a solid left back but hes simply not a left wing back and De Neve is not a footballer. Critical we sign a left wing back as a matter of urgency. Miller dug out a cross for the second which was probably the only good thing he did, including the return of his terrible throws. Cantwell was better today but you can see his frustration being surrounded by dross and he is a soft arse. Ohashi plods away, again no real support but he should be a squad player. We need lots of players in this week which wont happen. And if any come in, they probably wont be any good. Charlton arent great and Bell hasnt improved since he left based on that. Needed to be targetted more especially when weirdly he went to right centre back as he wont use his weak foot at all.

Hes on a long contract, West Brom hold a big sell on, hes only really proven anything for half a season and hes young so likely to go up in value from their perspective. Plus its mid season. If they do want a massive fee, its presumably that they dont want to sell now which is totally fair enough.

I thought it was 2 and a half years to 2027 but may be wrong.

I think Kargbo will be out of contract next summer rather than this summer, sadly.

Yes, because the game wasnt competitive. One player was obviously levels above and was going to and subsequently did cruise to victory. If I am watching darts similar to football as a neutral then I dont want one overpowering force levels above the rest.

So a fifth of his valuation. But we are "prepared," right?