roversfan99

It doesnt make any sense or have any logic at all to it. If you consider Rodwell to be a midfielder, then surely you think we still need a centre back? A third choice centre back good enough to push the 2 we have, one thats much bettter than Downing who is League 1 quality. I agree that he should be considered a midfielder, thats where hes played all his life, and even in there he can be considered another option, not someone we can rely upon for various reasons, his performances for quite a while now, his mental questions, his fitness and his injuries all mean we can count upon. If Mowbray plans to use him as a centre back which I dont think hes quoted as saying, I may be wrong, then he cant have been signed as the main back up there or we are in trouble, as the position at the moment is unknown to him, aswell as all the reasons listed above. In my opinion, the reason that you arent suggesting that we need a defender anymore, even though you was last week and we havent signed one, is because you dont think Mowbray will sign one, rather than because you dont think we need one. My point about a wide man was you could stick one in either wide role in our formation and he would give us a new dimension as we have no one who can beat a man then deliver a good cross. We have other players who play in wide role, most obviously Palmer who is not a good defensive player but in the side out wide for his attacking ability. Again, you are mirroring Mowbrays opinion rather than giving your own.

You need to start giving your own opinions. If you just try to mirror what you expect Mowbray to do then is there any point in a messageboard? Rodwell is a player you admitted you didnt want. He is not a defender, he has had a career as a midfielder. He is nowhere near fit, so if Mulgrew or Lenihan pick up a knock in training this week or v Lincoln, hes of no use. So the question is, in your opinion, not what you think Mowbrays opinion is, is a currently unfit midfielder on the back of a few horrid years and someone you didnt want, someone who you think is good enough to be third choice at centre back? Because thats the role I am talking about. First reserve. And as @AAK mentions youve just contradicted yourself regarding a winger. Besides, in our current formation, playing a winger would require no adjustment whatsoever. Sometimes, having only players who naturally come inside will be one dimensional.

No I dont agree with that first bit. I judge managers on results. In this instance he was right to give something back to people who were giving him unfair dogs abuse.

Disagree, it would be a window in which we would have solved many but not all of what we needed. Wed still have no quality in reserve at centre back and absolutely no option of natural width.

So basically you are saying what you think Mowbray will do, rather than what you want yourself or feel we need in your opinion? I feel we need 4 players, striker, pacy winger, partner for Evans and centre back.

Nonsense. The quality of football you are capable of playing effectively depends solely on the quality of players. From all accounts, today we played with plenty of heart but little attacking quality, I may be wrong, clearly admitting that we would lose if we went toe to toe with Brentford and put results before performances. Results get people on side.

A player at times underrated compared to other attacking players. His hold up and inteligence is very good. Clever players link up well and are on the same wavelength. See Dack and Graham. At this present moment, there is nothing to suggest that when both are fit, that Brereton would play over him.

Surely we are now seeing that he in fact couldnt play better football with what is a very cheaply assembled squad of players that we was getting the absolute maximum from. And who cares about his relationship with fans. Its results fans want. Waghorn and Garner were signed cheaply and sold at a profit to be replaced by 2 players of very questionable abilities while we were signing Armstrong for a similar fee.

Nowhere any time soon due to lack of fitness. But hes a gamble and a "low cost" one apparently. We cant rely on him to be anything other than a bonus considering his unavailability in the near future and his disastrous recent history. We still need a centre back AND a central midfielder really. We dont have any proven, quality back up for 2 centre backs who have been prone to injury. We also need a central midfielder. As said prior, Smallwood is no better than a squad player, Evans is good enough but prone to injury, Bennetts versatility means he may be needed elsewhere, Davenports only young and Rodwells a total gamble. We need someone who is first team quality. Id like to see some outgoings to. Travis, Nuttall and Tomlinson all need regular football in the lower divisions. Get these 4 players in and youd have to say we shouldnt be near the bottom and we can push on

Wasnt there today but very pleasing to see us win with a badly weakened side. Characters there for all to see. Give this squad some.help as mentioned in the loan window thread and it could be another good season. In general, without seeing todays game, Rothwell and Palmer look like shrewd additions and Evans has shown the ability I knew he had but I just hope we can get a good season from him in terms of being injury free. The performances of all the pitch talk can be filed under sour grapes. That said, I did think that against Liverpool, Everton, Millwall and Reading that the pitch looked far from ideal considering its the start of a new season. The pitch was particularly poor last season as well so maybe theyve changed groundsmen or cut costs on that part of the club?

Still dont understand, always best to see our team face the best players week in, week out.

Looking at that squad today and we definitely need more than 1 or 2 this week. Excellent spirit but goes without saying that quality wise weve not got enough. Hart, Nuttall and Caddis shouldnt be near our squad, and I think Travis could do with a loan spell too. Obviously, Dack, Armstrong, Williams, Davenport and Rodwell come into play but we need more than just Brereton. In central midfield someone like Reed would be a wise move, we have Smallwood and Davenport as squad players and Rodwell as a total gamble, with Evans prone to injury and Bennett filling in here there and everywhere. We definitely need a first team quality player in there. We also need a pacy winger, plenty of 10s but no out and out wingers. And we dont have quality if Mulgrew and Lenihan are out at centre back, Downing aa 4th choice is fine but I dont think hes good enough to play too many games, and we certainly shouldnt consider a player whose barely played for years, whose had success ages ago solely in midfield and someone who isnt even nearly fit can be centre back cover. So 4 needed really.

Makes no sense why youd want anything but the best for the club, ie to be in the top league. Whats the point of demanding success if promotion would make you unhappy anyway. Not sure he did anything to suggest he was capable of playing a major role last year.

Shows that you was too quick to belittle Mick McCarthy and the excellent work he did there. Hurst has spent some money on Nolan, Nsiala, Edwards, Harrison and Jackson, money McCarthy wishes he had.

All keepers make mistakes, but the better the keeper, the less the mistakes. Sadly at the moment he makes one too many.

Agree to disagree. It was an average save but considering the hand he got on it, you have to tip it round the post or to the side. You have lower standards cleaely. So he instills confidence in you, yet you agree that he makes mistakes due to being young? I never said otherwise, obviously he is very young for a keeper. He has improved somewhat but he still makes more than an average amount of mistakes for a Championship standard keeper in my opinion. Goalkeepers not really a position where you want a raw youngster so hopefully his improvement will accelerate and he will cut the mistakes out.

I hope theres nothing to the Sylla links. His signing would not only be poor in terms of the players ability, but it would also be quite symbolic in that we wanted Freeman, as I believe Mowbray acknowledged (correct me if im wrong), which would have been a statement of intent to pinch the best player for a decent fee from a side destined to struggle. Fast forward a couple of weeks and we sign a player who even before they made 2 shrewd signings of proven Championship forwards, was 3rd choice behind Washington and Smith, 2 very poor Championship strikers. Hope its the usual speculation rubbish. Following on from the Rodwell signing it would be a worry. With Brereton, as I said to @Bigdoggsteel it is fine to critique the potential fee, his poor goal record thus far and as mentioned by the Forest fan on here, his struggles to hold the ball up. It shouldnt be a case of being happy just because we are spending money. That said, most would acknowledge it would have a level of ambition amidst it, the size of the fee, the potential he has, even if all dont agree that it would be the wisest way to spend such money. Which is probably a hypothetical debate anyway.

His kicking? His flapping at crosses? Both have got marginally better but they are still suspect to say the least. He got a big hand to it, its basic goalkeeping to tip it out of the danger zone rather than back into it. He doesnt instill confidence. Has good reflexes and is very young but lets not pretend hes not partial to a mistake. Raya in the main is fairly highly rated so your "scapegoating" line is rubbish. If players do well they get praised, if they make mistakes they get criticised.

Raya did make 2 howlers v Ipswich, once rushing out only to slice it to an Ipswich player, and once his usual trick of flapping at a cross. The first goal on Wednesday was at least 50% Rayas fault, and the second one I felt he should have done much more than parry it back into play. Basics. Raya has always been very error prone, theres nothing wrong with pointing that out if its true, and using words like scapegoat is like saying to trust Mowbray or stop being negative, ie it is when you have nothing constructive to come back with.

It is, but firstly it hasnt been spent yet, and if it is people will still want it to be spent well on a good player

Sylla is crap. To sign QPRs now fifth choicr would.not be a signal of intent..

But Evans has been our best player, both this season and for the last couple of months of last season.

Agreed on them being particulaely bad in the first half. But in general I hate them, very distracting and need removing.

Dont agree with this signing at all. Obviously I will back him etc but hes been rotting away for a couple of years and has both attitude and fitness issues. The strangest thing about it all is not only his awful recent history but its his alledged potential position. We "have the money" and obviously the freeddom of the market so why we are resorting to someone who as far as I know hasnt played as a centre back professionally, with his success, albeit a long time ago coming in midfield, as a centre back signing (if true) shows for me a flawed recruitment for that position. Surely just sign a centre back, even if Bauer isnt available. Hate signing square pegs for round holes. I just hope hes one of a few but hes certainly not "win win" and I hope the in my opinion cheap and desperate nature of the deal is a one off and we sign some better players.

Makes no sense to sign a midfielder to play as a defender.