roversfan99

The key issue is that Mowbray and Waggott have both discussed many times about not having unlimited fund and having to cut our cloth accordingly and look for value, that every penny counts. I cant believe that people are defending the Gladwin deal. This is a player who has been drawing a wage for 2 years in which time hes never started a League game. He has been paid for the last 18 months in which hes been injured. It would be a noble and understandable gesture to allow him to use the facilities The goalkeeper weve retained is blatantly not up to standard though. Mowbray said the other week hes bringing one in so your hypothesis that essentially we are sticking with the 2 we have is either wrong or something has changed since he said it. If he is still bringing one in then theres absolutely no need for a senior third choice keeper. Again, money down the drain. You say Samuel could add something, he was sub standard in League 1 (not scoring post November) and again has since had a major injury. We are supposedly after a new striker (again Mowbray has said as such) and thats on top of our player of the season and a striker he blew 7m on, and another who sees himself as a striker who cost 2m himself. How many strikers do we need? Hes also given Conway a new deal, does he fit into this new style (high energy, technical, full of young players) Mowbray seems eager to move towards? No. Its clear that we need a few players coming in to boost the starting 11. Who is going out to make way on the wage budget?

The retained list of a manager who has predictably failed on his promise to be ruthless to allow us to push forwards already. A manager who was talking about having to find value in the market last week, yet is throwing money down the drain with many of these extensions, when we need both the room in the squad and room to manoeuvre on the wage budget. Firstly, agree with the Downing decision. We need better. Leutweiler is never, ever good enough. If hes one of our main 2 keepers, we have major problems. If he isnt, why on earth do we need a third choice senior goalkeeper who will seldom even make the bench? One who isnt good enough to deputise should we get 2 injuries anyway. Gladwin is an absolute joke, the absolute opposite of ruthlessness. This is a player who was out of his depth in League 1, prior to a series of serious injuries, in which time he has been paid by the club. To let him use the facilities would be a noble, human decision. To give him a wage is absolutely ridiculous. Conway is someone who was out of his depth at this level 2 or 3 years ago. Not good enough anymore, nor does he fit into this apparent new system Mowbray seems to want to move toward, high energy, progressive football. Rodwell I am the least annoyed about, but still I am unconvinced that he should have been given a new deal. Has quality as a midfielder, but Mowbray will see him as an option at centre back.

I would suggest that Graham is better technically than Brereton. Ultimately, it came down to the players behind him and of course the manager as to why we chose to predominantly hoof the ball up to him. Graham played an important role in the Derby, Forest and QPR wins.

Ive not doubted that, nor have I suggested that we right him off. But ultimately, the primary objective is to get results and as it stands, Danny Graham up front is more likely to achieve that. Not having him as first choice striker does not mean writing him off.

What can you possibly have seen in Brereton to be willing to go into a new season without any new strikers, and also with him above our player of the season in the pecking order?

No chance. Was not good enough at League 1 level, before a serious injury.

Why is that the benchmark?

Whilst I dont think that Mikel is realistic, it seems totally unfair to generalise that he wouldnt give a shit, presumably based on the likes of Murphy and Etuhu. Mikel impressed at Boro, including at Ewood where he was as good as any midfielder I've seen all season, and if he wanted do very little to earn a good wage then surely hed have stayed in China; the wage youve suggested is surely a guess. Hes younger than our player of the season last season.

It would decrease the quality of the football massively if the likes of Liverpool, Spurs, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid etc were replaced by champions from more obscure leagues,

The thing is, with Mulgrew and Conway, you have 2 senior players, one of whom whose contract was going to expire this summer and one whose still does, both of whom are clearly well past their best, and both of whom are prime candidates to jettison if the manager has developed the ruthless streak that we have all speculated about in the past following comments he made about giving players we had in League 1 a chance. Its easy to say "they can come on for 10 minutes here and there" but ultimately they will be evidence that the strong, aggressive push towards a top 6 place is perhaps not as likely to materialise as we hope.

He said last week that he was going to India to find out if hes buying multi million players or if hes in the free agent market. I think that was just an example of how a club can take advantage if they get in there early.

Its not rocket science to suggest that the manager not having the foggiest as to the budget he is working on until a couple of weeks after the season has finished, a season in which we could have in theory prepared for with weeks of the season left due to our league position. You say its an assumption to suggest that we are looking at frees, even the manager doesnt know!

Id be amazed if we came out publically and declared that Smallwood and Mulgrew are transfer listed.

The craziest thing would be changing formation to one that excludes your best player.

Hopefully "do a job" wont be part of Mowbrays vocabulary!

Robson-Kanu is shite.

Looking at what I think we need, with a couple of suggestions (maybe some of them are pretty limited and hopefully Mowbray can find some better alternatives whether domestic or on the continent, to which I dont really know any suggestions) GK: Definitely need a new number 1 with Raya as back up (initially). Carson and Darlow have been suggested and arent bad shouts. Leutweiler well out of his depth. Full back: Really short, Bennett and Williams well out of their depth here, need one of each as first choices as Nyambe has had a iffy season and has a way to go, and Bell isnt up to it but will be needed as back up. Ivo Pinto has been released at Norwich, dunno if hes worth a look for RB? Reece James albeit he may be an unrealistic loan. Centre back: Lenihan I think is not without his faults but he is a good player and can be in our starting 11 next season. Williams is ok to have as a third/fourth choice back up, we need a good quality partner for Lenihan and maybe another back up, Mulgrew is past it and needs moving on. Potential suggestions are Jake Cooper, Grant Hanley and Yoann Barbet. Central Midfield: Travis has been a revelation but needs a good quality midfielder alongside him with Reeds loan set to expire and Rodwell heading for the exit. Smallwood needs getting rid of too, and if Evans stays he should be a (probably overpaid) squad player. Davenport looks like he can play a part too. Potential targets could be Joe Aribo, a very good midfielder who can get goals too whose Charlton deal is soon to expire, Will Vaulks who shone in a relegated Rotherham side and has recently got into the Wales side, or even look at bringing Reed back. Attacking midfielder: This is where we have some real assets, Dack, Rothwell, Chapman and Armstrong (only on the right) are full of flair and potential, Butterworth looked really good in his cameo v Bolton, but we perhaps need one more natural winger, especially with Rothwell the natural alternative should Dack be unavailable, and Armstrong with visions of being a number 9. Bennett and Conway arent good enough now and dont fit into this younger, entertaining, high energy, technical team we hopefully are moving towards. Not really sure who we could bring in, maybe an area to look across the continent like Norwich did with Buendia and Hernandez, Maddison and Lowe continue to get goals and assist in League 1 but can they step up to push for the Championship top 6, not sure, same with someone like Ben Marshall who could be available. Striker: Graham is an obvious but needs some help, Nuttall and Samuel arent good enough, Armstrong hasnt convinced there and Brereton scored his first goal and got dropped for the last 2 games! So to conclude, Leutweiler, Mulgrew, Smallwood, Conway, Bennett, Rodwell, Samuel, Gladwin, Nuttall all for the chopping board, plenty of experience to be replaced too, a goalkeeper, at least one centre back, a full back for each side, a central midfielder, winger and a striker. We probably wont get all that but as close as possible please.

Im not saying it would be anything other than a brainless signing, luckily one Mowbray has rubbished, but itd make you leave an already bought season ticket to collect dust as a direct result?

I dont think theres much in it in terms of flair and natural ability, they are both entertainers, but I agree with points made by @blueboy3333 and @BankEnd Rover and ultimately the difference is in the end product. Both are key but Dacks our best player Weve looked so much better with 2 wingers picked mainly for what they can do going forward.

What about our top scorer who also has 7 assists this season? Surely hes the most important player! As good as Rothwell is. The two work very well together,

Terrible first half, very good start to the second half which fizzled out, annoying not to get the win on the final day but in many ways a mixed performance that summed up the season. Dack and Rothwell were our bright sparks, the second goal was a superb bit of play by Graham to dummy it, Armstrong was a bit more frustrating as he often is. Chapman looked a bit rusty but he is a livewire and showed what he is about when he burst to the byline near the end. Conway looked about 45 when he came on, weve got all these bright young talents going forward, Dack, Rothwell, Armstrong and Chapman, Conway doesnt fit in at all, hes so slow and today should be his last appearance. Leutweiler for me could have done better with their second and got away with one when the ref gave a really cheap foul when he dropped it. He needs releasing too. Travis was run ragged at right back and in general was below his usual standards. Davenport looked well out of his depth when he came on, but improved after half time and is certainly not afraid of a tackle.

Cardiff I would make strong favourites for promotion. They are a team full of players proven to be very good Championship players even if they struggle at Prem level, and they have the best manager. Etheridge in goal, the likes of Bamba, Manga, Peltier, Bennett, Morrison and Cunningham defensively, players like Gunnarsson and Ralls in midfield and attacking players like Reid, Murphy, Mendez-Laing and Hoilett going forward. Whereas Fulham I certainly cant see walking the league under an inexperienced manager with presumably their 2 prized assets Mitrovic and Sessegnon subject to poaching by vultures.

Really?

I agree about recent history, hes been given at least 2 years worth of contracts too many, but you are incredibly harsh prior to that. For the first few seasons following his arrival, he was statistically one of the most effective wingers in the league, assist after assist after assist.

I find this attitude totally bizarre, its one prevalent with Waggott in particular. Supporting a football club isnt a responsibility, but if it could be considered one, it would be to all those who already go, they are the hard core. I go and would have almost certainly found the funds if it had have gone up a hundred quid or two, id have been very annoyed but its a priority to me so I would have gone and paid. The ones who arent going are by their very notion, floating fans, people who arent as arsed about attending every game. Shifting blame onto them or passively aggressively blaming them for lack of income will not work. You have to make it appeal for them to come back. Waggott seems to be insistent throughout his reign on suggesting that the products there, the fans have to come back of their own volition. Hes the one with the keys to controlling that, more than anyone. Little things like closing certain stands, surcharges, when season tickets are released, moving kick off times etc are all secondary to the main thing which is price. Whilst those not attending at the moment may be not doing not necessarily due to price, but putting the price up would have done nothing to get them back. Thankfully, he has at least kept the prices the same, whilst im not convinced that the season tickets are cheap enough to appeal to many to those out of the habit, I think a rise would have almost eliminated any chance of that happening so fair play to Waggott for at least freezing prices.